read, write, ramble

The topic for week twenty four of 52 Blogs is cats, so I’ve written about some of the cats I’ve owned (and some of the cats I still own).

Fishcake

Fishcake was my very first cat. I must have still been in single figures when we got her. A family friend had some kittens to give away so my Mum took me to choose one. It turns out I chose the psycho one. Although I adored the cat she terrified me. I used to be scared to get out of bed at night because Fishcake would go for my feet if she ever caught me in the corridor. She was never a lap cat, never liked being picked up, and hated going outside. Despite all that I have very fond memories of her.

Monster

I acquired Monster (named for the R.E.M. album) during my Uni years, sometime in the late nineties. Once again, a friend’s cat had had some kittens and I took one. Monster was a big softie and had a peculiar fondness for lettuce. At one point he went to live at my Dad’s house–I think I moved to a rental that didn’t allow cats–and Monster didn’t leave my side for the whole weekend. After that he bonded completely with my Dad.

Lenny

Lenny is the Harrod’s cat–yes, she came from Harrod’s department store. My girlfriend at the time wanted to get a siamese cat because Robbie Williams owned one and, of course, she called it Millennium. Luckily I ended up with the cat when we split up (but none of the Robbie Williams records). Lenny is an awesome cat, occasionally high maintenance, but gives it back in spades. It cost us more to bring her to Australia than it cost to bring us, but it was worth every cent.

Trevor

We bought Trevor as a companion for Lenny. They fought constantly. It was only when we moved house that they start cohabiting successfully–it was almost like having two different cats, the change was so abrupt. He was dumb and crazy: I’ll always remember the time he attempted a snatch-and-grab raid on one of our dinner plates, but only got away with a piece of broccoli. Unfortunately he got himself run over some months after we moved. We still have his ashes in a box somewhere. What exactly do you do with a dead cat’s ashes?

Marvin and Moriarty

Marvin and Moriarty are our two most recent feline acquisitions. We got them from the Cat Haven in a ‘buy one get one free’ deal. We chose them because they were the ones who walked to the front of the cage to meet us (I guess they chose us). They’re not brother and sister, they do have remarkably different personalities. Marvin is boisterous and crazy; Moriarty is skittish and wary. Both are exceedingly affectionate. It was only after Marvin started to grow to his adult size that we realised how small and light Lenny is. For all we know he might never stop growing …